Motherwort Seeds, Official
Organic : Leonurus cardiaca
Motherwort
Vibrant lavender fragrant blooms on spikes appear in summer over dark green foliage. The plant is not especially particular about soil preference but does best in a moist well-drained soil and makes a good bedding or border plant for your medical herb garden. The leaves are used to treat an array of complaints including nervous irritability and heart palpitations. It is considered a relaxing sedative.
Full sun or partial shade
Hardy to -30F (-34.4C)
height: 20in.
50 seeds/pkt
You know, I purely cannot remember my first meeting with Motherwort, it's as though I've always known her. But I must say, the vast majority of folks who have made her acquaintance by my introducing them, have sung her praises loud and long. For you few males brave enough to be reading what the Wise Wimmen are up to over here, if the name Motherwort makes you nervous, go for the latin name Leonurus cardiaca - The Lion Hearted - (feel better?)
I like to think of the effect of Motherwort tincture as a little "There-There" in a bottle. I've read too often of people calling it a sedative. I consider a sedative to be something that brings on the zzzzz's at 3pm. Now certainly if a panic attack and/or heart palpitations wake you up in the middle of the night and you take a bit of Motherwort and are able to go back to sleep, that doesn't necessarily make the Motherwort a sedative (but definitely one of your best buddies). I often tell folks that Motherwort just kind of takes the edge off the edgies. I also make the distinction that St. John's wort is an anti-depressant and Motherwort is more anti-anxiety. They're NOT exactly the same thing.
Momwort (as we affectionately call her) takes the edge off PMS very nicely. You know, that part of PMS where you're quite sure you're going to BITE the next person who opens his/her mouth? The only caution here is that in repeated doses, Motherwort can be a bit blood-thinning which is good if your period includes blood clots, but can get a flash-flood going a bit faster than you can handle. I remember being swamped by my daughter's high school friends when I showed up for graduation "Oh, THANK YOU, Melissa's Mommie, for the Motherwort! We don't have PMS ANYmore!".....yeah, and I bet your PARENTS would thank me too! (You LISTENING, fellas?)
Motherwort does quite the number on taking the edge off hot flashes too. I was REALLY hoping hot flashes would be just a spectacular rise in temperature that would have me howling in the supermarket parking lot with all the other Red Hot Mamas. So far, the episodes of flashes I've had have just been decidedly uncomfortable, leaving me feeling weak, shakey and yucky. I soon discovered that a dropperful of Motherwort at the first sign of a flashevent and they'd just stop and not come back for months. I've heard the same from other women. See, I'm not so good at this menopause thing yet...got a ways to go here.
